Rinoa P.O.V
We continued to walk to the Bryne Wasteland. Most of the time we tried to find a high point to see how far we had come. But for most of the trip, we could see the Hermes Ranges looming behind us in the distance. I guess I was mostly kept busy by the hard task of trying to pick a name for my new friend that now resided in my head. It felt strange with her, not like it did for any other GF. I guess she wasn't really a GF in most ways…but I suppose she may have lost her memory and she really was GF? Not that I thought it was even possible. I didn't know what to think.
We came to a large canyon, like a mine site. A giant crater.
" Is this…" Meryl whispered.
Lance nodded. "Yes. The Bryne Wasteland. It's actually a crater. It was formed during the first Lunar Cry"
I nodded and stared into the crater. No life. Just a vast sandy abyss of nothingness.
" Are you saying there's supposed to be a green and lush valley here?" I asked.
Lance shrugged. " If my parents managed to get here and hide it away in time…"
I felt a little sorry for them and shut up. So we walked on down the crater and into the middle.
" This is kinda freaky" Meryl whispered, " I mean, there is nothing, absolutely nothing down here? How can that be possible?"
"I honestly don't know…" Lance answered.
A hot breeze blew past and the dirt at my feet blew up into my face. I coughed and waved my hands around. I hated it here and was desperate to find The Springs.
"Where do you think it is Lance?"
Just as I had said it, I saw something down at my feet. Everyone noticed it too. A small green plant. It was growing bigger by the second.
"What the…?"
More plants began to pop up around us. Like an army of plants coming to invade the harsh dry crater. A palm tree sprung up next to me and grew up 3 times my size, sprouting leaves. More trees sprang up with it. Pines and large vine plants, flowers and ferns.
It was amazing. An oasis was appearing before our eyes.
I heard water and turned around to see a pebble stream of water flowing behind me in-between the many plants and grass types.
To my left was a giant waterfall flowing down from the sides of the crater into a pool below.
I could hear birds and other animals chirping from within the trees. Everything went calm and I could only hear the sounds of the forest.
" They made it Lance…they made it!" Meryl screamed.
She ran over to the edge of the pool and kicked off her boots yelling, " They made it!" and jumped in. Ignoring Lance who frantically yelled at her to stop.
When she resurfaced, Meryl yelled out to us, a broad smile on her face. " Hey guys! Come on in! Its great!"
I jumped in with her but the boys stayed on dry land and started a fire.
Meryl and I swam to the waterfall and walked behind it. The water made those strange watery patterns on the stone wall and I could hardly hear the boys on the other side.
" So", Meryl asked me, " What do you think we do now?"
I thought for a moment. What can we do now? We cant stay here forever…I'll go crazy, but we can't just go back to garden or go live in Deling. We're on the run now, no turning back right?
"I'm not sure yet, but we cant stay here…I guess I just need time to think"
She nodded and looked at the waterfall. " You know, sometimes I used to write stories to the kids at Crescent Winds about what the outside world was like…and you know what? I was pretty accurate. I guess I never thought it would be as barren as it has been but…its different further out there isn't it?"
"Yeah, it sure is"
We stayed quiet for while. She was dwelling in her own thoughts and so was I.
However I managed the day, I'll never know. I swam for ages then helped set up a small mini camp. It was at night though, that the unbelievable chain of events began.
It was well into the night and a small fire was going in the middle of the clearing next to the pool. In the distance, I saw lights.
Headlights.
"Squall…" I whispered, " What's that?"
He looked in the direction of the lights, as did the group.
" I think we have company, " He answered.
The car stopped a few meters away from the start of the forest, which they couldn't see. But the real shock came when I saw who got out of the car.
Quistis.
" Ok now what?" She said, " I don't recall there being any life here anyway so why are we here?"
The tall gruff one answered. " Because information at the Station told us they saw a group of people here. Might be the sorceress"
I frowned and looked at Squall " Should we?" I asked.
Seifer answered for me, " Definitely…"
The five of us walked out of our forest hide out into the open. Before the 'new arrivals' had a chance to register what was going on, Seifer, Squall and Lance had knocked them all unconscious, except for Quistis.
She almost fell over in shock when she saw us but managed to regain her composer.
"Where…where did you come from!?" She managed to gasp.
I smiled and walked over to her. " Don't worry we'll tell you later"
We took her into the forest to our camp and told her about it. She explained her reason for wearing a Council Guard uniform and being with their group. She even told us about the 'dragon collecting'.
" Ok so basically, here's the deal," She said, " The collector is activated when the stone is inserted into it. Once activated it sends out toxic waves that will instantly mutate whichever monsters are in a 20-mile radius. But here's the thing, if the stone is inserted a second time, it sends out a negative wave, killing any of the mutations in a 20 mile radius"
"So to stop it, all we have to do is get the stone?" I asked.
" No," She said, " There's a catch. Because its already been used a first time, most of the power in the stone has already been used, it needs someone with a high concentrate of power to insert it, to give it power again…a sorceress most likely"
I nodded. I suppose it wouldn't be that hard.
" A member of my group told me the collector is finished. All the gardens have been called to the sorceress memorial, where it is, and they should get there tomorrow. They're going to activate the collector the next day, so we have 2 days to get that stone and stop them"
We discussed our plan and agreed to take the Council car to the sorceress memorial. It would take us a day to get there.
Author's Note: hmm not a bad chapter I think. Please leave a review! Pretty please with broccoli on top? What not broccoli? Ok ok fine, how about chocolate or ice cream or cherries or…
